THOMAS TWP. — Suniva Inc. has an extra tax incentive to open a $250 million solar cell manufacturing facility in the Great Lakes Technology Solar Park.

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority OK’d a five-year, $8.7 million tax incentive and extended the start of a 15-year, $15 million photovoltaic Michigan Business Tax credit on Tuesday.

Norcross,Ga.-headquartered Suniva Inc. has said the company’s plans to build depend on acquiring the financing to construct the plant. The plant could employ up to 500 workers within five years, estimates show.

The company pulled a $141 million loan request to the U.S. Department of Energy this year after months of delays. At the time, Suniva had raised about $94.4 million in equity, with plans to raise $115 milion, Saginaw News archives show.

Amy E. Zorich, a Suniva spokeswoman, told The Saginaw News today in an
email "any financing investment by Suniva is and always has been
contingent on obtaining acceptable financing and on favorable market
conditions."

Even so, a Suniva official appeared at the MEGA board meeting this week, said Michael Shore, a MEGA spokesman in Lansing.

The incentives will help, said JoAnn T. Crary, president and chief executive officer of Saginaw Future Inc.

The park is close to Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., the global leader in the production of polycrystalline silicon, the ultra-pure and raw material needed to make solar panels and electronic microchips. HSC has tallied $2.5 billion in expansions at its Thomas Township home in recent years, added hundreds of jobs and boosted capacity. Construction on a $1.2 billion facility is under way near Clarksville, Tenn.

Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. has a solar shingle making complex and Dow Corning Corp., part owner of HSC, has a solar power research and development center in Freeland.